Pittsburgh Man Sentenced for Possession of Machine Gun

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – On January 25, 2024, a Pittsburgh resident was sentenced in federal court to 15 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release in connection with his possession of a machine gun, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

United States District Judge William S. Stickman imposed the sentence on Dontrel Bentley, age 34.

According to information presented to the court, during a traffic stop on October 24, 2022, an officer with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police recovered a loaded AR-15 style rifle next to the driver, Dontrel Bentley. A search of Bentley’s person revealed that he had in his pocket a .223 caliber round and an auto sear device, which, when installed within the trigger group of a semiautomatic rifle, renders the rifle fully automatic. Bentley admitted that he personally modified the rifle at his home and that the auto sear device belonged to him. The investigation revealed that the seized rifle fired as a fully automatic weapon. Federal law prohibits the possession of machine guns.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Bentley.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.